PEORIA – An attic fire ultimately alerted police to a marijuana growing operation hidden behind a false wall in the basement of a West Bluff home over the weekend.

The call for the blaze at 1121 N. Orange St. came at 7:38 a.m. Sunday, and firefighters arrived within a few minutes. The crew contained the flames to the attic, where the fire caused an estimated $30,000 in damage.

But they found something unusual while checking the house for occupants or other fires, according to police.

“As the fire department went through and cleared the house, in the basement there was a false wall,” said Peoria police Capt. Loren Marion III. “When they went back there, there was a grow operation.”

Homeowner Steven Reeves, 29, arrived home while police and firefighters were on the scene. Officers took him to the police station, where he refused to answer questions or give police consent to search his house.

Investigators obtained a search warrant and found 179 marijuana plants behind the false wall in various stages of growth, Marion said.

“It sounds like it was a sophisticated operation,” he said.

Police also seized more than 5 pounds of harvested plant material, according to reports on the incident.

Reeves has been charged with manufacture or delivery of 500 to 2,000 grams of marijuana, possession of 500 to 2,000 grams of marijuana, producing 50 to 200 marijuana plants and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Bond was set at $45,000. He was released from the Peoria County Jail on Monday on $4,500 bail.

Matt Buedel can be reached at 686-3154 or mbuedel@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JournoBuedel.